1. Assess your current travel approach
Before making changes, get a full picture of how travel is currently handled across your organization. Determine which departments manage tasks like booking, check historical travel spend, and assess the suitability of existing budgets. Try to understand why processes have developed the way they have and the existing pain points for both the company and individual travelers.Forming a clear understanding of the current approach means you’ll be able to clearly define the goals and scope of a more strategic, HR-led travel approach.2. Create a new business travel policy
A clear travel policy for business brings clarity and confidence for the whole team, as everyone involved in travel will have a clear framework to work in.Your travel policy should guide employees and outline processes for the following:
Safety and risk protocols
Outline the steps that will be taken at each stage of travelling for work. This includes pre-travel risk assessments, insurance, emergency procedures, and destination-specific guidance for both U.S. and international destinations.Booking and approval processes
Clarify who is responsible for booking travel and the approved platforms they should use. Demonstrate the approval process and remind travelers who are booking travel independently when approval requests will be required.3. Manage duty of care for traveling employees
The Occupational Health and Safety Act 1970 requires U.S. employers to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that could cause serious harm. While the Act doesn't specifically address work-related travel, employers are encouraged to take reasonable steps to assess and reduce risks during such travel, particularly when it is part of the employee's job duties.Ultimately, employee wellbeing is an HR responsibility, wherever in the world the employee works. While cost will be a major consideration with other departments, make sure that the staff wellbeing is prioritized at every stage, with a clear duty of care policy to provide guidance in emergency situations both within the U.S. and overseas. An effective duty of care policy will demonstrate that the correct steps have been taken to protect traveling team members. For this reason, the level of detail should be high, ensuring that specific guidance is provided for any work-related scenario, such as different events like conferences or training retreats.
5. Train the entire team on new processes
Your new policy and tools can only be effective if there is confidence in how to use them. Provide training to all staff members, as even those not traveling may be involved in budgeting or planning future trips.Hold regular refresher sessions when a trip is coming up, to make sure the key information is fresh in their minds and that new hires are also up to speed.Make sure that training is practical so that everyone understands how to make requests, input bookings and update details. Emphasize that the policies and processes are intended to make travel as simple and safe as possible.6. Continue to refine and update your travel policies
Treat travel policies as living documents. Regular revisions will ensure that shifting business goals are factored in and that employee feedback can be used to refine and improve the travel experience.With TravelPerk, every trip’s data is stored centrally, making it easy to access when creating custom reports. Use this information to identify budget overspends or inefficiencies in the booking process. Employee input will identify pain points that may require adjustments, while periodic review with management will ensure that changes are universally understood.Through this refinement of training, learning and optimizing, your strategy can remain relevant and employee-focused.
?w=48&){kind=small}
?)
?)
?)
?)
?)
?)
?)